Ex­pats on trial for ho­tel rob­bery

Five men have gone on trial ac­cused of as­sault­ing a man, de­tain­ing him in an of­fice and steal­ing more than Dhs100,000 from him, Dubai Crim­i­nal Court was told that the five Bri­tish de­fen­dants – aged 37, 41, 45, 48, and 52 – are all charged with steal­ing and de­tain­ing the vic­tim against his will. On April 9, the de­fen­dants went to an of­fice in Busi­ness Bay where they beat the vic­tim and took his phone. The vic­tim tes­ti­fied: “The five men started to beat me and searched my pock­ets. They took my ho­tel room key and or­dered me to sit on the ground. They or­dered me to take my shoes off too.” The vic­tim told pros­e­cu­tors he re­fused to re­veal the code to the safe. He said one of the de­fen­dants broke a glass and threat­ened him. The men opened the safe and stole Dhs100,000, 9,000 as well as the vic­tim’s pass­port. The vic­tim’s na­tion­al­ity and age were not men­tioned in the court doc­u­ments. The trial con­tin­ues.